Millions Mary Moraa banked at Athlos despite failing to secure victory

Millions Mary Moraa banked at Athlos despite failing to secure victory

Joel Omotto 11:13 - 28.09.2024

Mary Moraa still walked away with a fat pay cheque despite failing to clinch the most coveted Athlos crown at the women’s-only track event in New York.

Mary Moraa may have failed to clinch the most coveted Athlos NYC 800m crown but she still went home with a good pay cheque.

The women’s-only track event had attracted some of the globe’s top athletes and lived up to the billing as a game changer with the prize money for the winners of each of the six categories set at $60,000 (Ksh7.7 million).

However, it is not just winning that attracted millions as each of the six participants per race went home with a good amount.

Second placed finishers went home with $25,000 (Ksh3.2 million), third place attracted $10,000 (Ksh1.3 million), fourth place $8,000 (Ksh1 million), fifth place fetching $5,000 (Ksh645,598) as sixth attracted $2,500 (Ksh322,500).

That saw Mary Moraa walk away with $25,000 (Ksh3.2 million) from her final race of the season, a good return for a second-place finish, after pocketing $30,000 (Ksh3.9 million) for winning the Diamond League trophy at the season finale earlier this month.

To put it in context, Mary Moraa would need to win two Diamond League races and finish at least second in another one to bag such an amount which shows how big the Alexis Ohanian-backed women’s-only event was to athletes.

In the 800m, Ethiopian Tsige Duguma held off the challenged of Kenyan rival Mary Moraa to take the win in 1:57.43, leading five athletes under 2 minutes. Moraa finished second in 1:58.05 ahead of Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica, who completed the podium in in 1:58.63.

It was the second time Duguma was finishing ahead of Moraa at a major event in the last two months after she clinched silver as the Kenyan settled for bronze at the Paris Olympics.

All in all, it caps of a brilliant season for the world champion who has shown her dominance once again, a good sign heading into 2025 where the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan will be the main focus.

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